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Home / Entertainment

Where are they now? Yesterday's TV stars still shining

Natalie Akoorie
By Natalie Akoorie
Local Democracy Editor·NZ Herald·
14 Jan, 2015 06:10 AM4 mins to read

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In the third in the five-part series Where Are They Now? Natalie Akoorie tracked down some of the nation’s most memorable television presenters to see where life led them

Steve Parr

Radio man Steve Parr switched to television in 1981 with the premiere of what is now one of New Zealand's longest-running children's shows, What Now?

Parr hosted the Saturday morning show, where he introduced segments covering morning keep-fit exercises, sketches involving recurring characters such as complaining old man Clive Grumble, trivia from Frank Flash, and law and safety with Constable Keith and Sniff, interspersed with cartoons.

Parr left the show after a couple of years and in 1989 became the host of a Kiwi version of the game show Sale of the Century. Parr perfected his stage slide entrance that is still remembered today.

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The game show, which also featured Jude Dobson, lost steam in the early 1990s after being pulled back to a 5.30pm slot, then was briefly reborn on TV3.

In 2001 Parr moved to Australia and now works in real estate in Queensland, occasionally doing corporate and voiceover work.

Suzy Clarkson (nee Aiken)

Suzy Clarkson was a qualified physiotherapist before she moved into television, working in various roles during her TV career spanning several decades.

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She appeared in Shortland Street and in the late 1980s and early 90s she hosted the dating show Blind Date. She was the New Zealand presenter for the travel programme Getaway for four series and has a postgraduate qualification in broadcast journalism.

As Suzy Aiken she produced aerobic workout videos and co-authored the book Healthy Body Healthy Mind.

She became Suzy Clarkson after her marriage to Tim Clarkson in early 2006.

When Prime News First at 5.30 launched in February 2004, Clarkson became the anchor and producer.

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Two years later Eric Young became host of the weekday show with Clarkson moving to presenting the weekend news and weekday sports news.

She returned to Prime News after a short break for maternity leave following the birth of her first child in July 2007 but finally left in November 2010.

In 2013, as the corporate affairs manager for Coca-Cola Amatil New Zealand, Clarkson went public with her struggle to conceive a second child after three years of fertility treatment.

She gave birth to another boy early that year at the age of 45 and soon after published the book Fit for Birth and Beyond: The guide for women over 35.

Clarkson has since returned to her job in the corporate world.

Tom Bradley

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New Zealanders know Tom Bradley as a longtime news anchor, after he presented television news for 25 years. But Bradley is a man of many talents.

He started off in the 1960s as a radio announcer with the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC) before becoming one of the original pirate radio DJs at Radio Hauraki in the late 1960s.

In 1970 Bradley appeared on Australia's top-rating national TV show Bandstand performing his single Fly With Me.

Soon after he joined the then NZBC Network News team, which would eventually become One Network News, and presented the evening news in various formats and combinations until 1997 when he and the late Angela D'Audney were replaced as weekend bulletin readers by then husband and wife Simon Dallow and Alison Mau.

Since resigning Bradley has carved out a successful career as a children's book author, with 16 titles to date including comedies and thrillers for young adults.

He has also written hundreds of TV animation scripts for international syndication, sketch comedy, two stage musicals, commentaries and columns, and is an award-winning radio writer.

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Married with two adult sons, Bradley has also worked as a voiceover artist and as a media coach, and has scripted and narrated a TV One documentary, Happy Ever After, in 1999.

Penelope Barr

A former beauty queen, Penelope Barr was named Miss Waikato in the 1980s and in 1987 she became a high-profile weather girl on One News alongside Judy Bailey and Richard Long.

From there she moved into reporting and presenting roles with TVNZ on shows Body & Soul and Made in New Zealand.

She was a presenter for the Corbans Fashion Collections and Good Morning New Zealand before leaving television in 1996.

She was married to Shortland Street actor Stelios Yiakmis, who played doctor Johnny Marinovich, but the marriage ended.

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Barr moved into public relations and worked in New Zealand before heading to London taking up roles with KEA and Ketchum PR.

Barr remarried and became Barr-Sellers, and had a son.

She returned to New Zealand in 2011 and took a new role as head of growth and development at AUT University. The job encompasses public and business relations and Barr-Sellers is still there three years later.

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